• 'Let's do it right': N.W.T. downstream leaders and advocates on Alta. oilsands tailings release

  Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
  Date: 2026-10-22 17:08:09.0
  Tags: [National, Alberta, Environment, Energy, Resources, Indigenous]

  Indigenous communities, advocacy groups like Alternatives North, and downstream leaders in the Northwest Territories are calling on federal and territorial governments to review Suncor's proposed oilsands tailings release into the Athabasca River system. Critics cite major scientific data gaps, potential health risks to communities dependent on municipal supplies from Lake Athabasca and Great Slave Lake, and the inadequacy of the 2015 N.W.T.-Alberta Bilateral Water Management Agreement. N.W.T. Environment and Climate Change Minister Jay Macdonald stated that the territory opposes the treat-and-release plan until scientific uncertainties are resolved, though primary regulatory authority rests with the federal government and the Alberta Energy Regulator.

  Read Original

• First Nation in N.S. launches joint venture using sea water to produce jet fuel

  Source: Nova Scotia - Halifax & Regional News
  Date: 2026-10-14 18:08:49.0
  Tags: [Nova Scotia, Indigenous, Technology, Energy, Environment, Economy]

  The Eskasoni First Nation has launched a joint venture called eFuels Mi’kmaq Limited with Sydney, Nova Scotia-based clean technology startup Aeon Blue to produce low-cost eFuels for the aviation and rocket sectors. Eskasoni First Nation is investing $1.5 million into the $4-million pilot-stage project, securing a majority ownership stake. The facility will utilize saltwater electrochemistry to split hydrogen from seawater and capture carbon dioxide from the air to manufacture the fuels, with the project projected to create approximately 80 jobs and provide engineering and management opportunities for community members.

  Read Original

• Alberta First Nation taking Ottawa to court over West Coast pipeline

  Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
  Date: 2026-10-09 00:20:48.0
  Tags: [Alberta, National, Indigenous, Energy, Environment, Infrastructure]

  Cold Lake First Nations has filed an application in Federal Court challenging the federal and provincial decision to designate the $35 billion to $43 billion Pacific Link oil pipeline project as being in the national interest. The proposed pipeline, backed by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, would transport up to one million barrels of crude a day from Bruderheim, Alberta, to Delta, British Columbia, while incorporating the Pathways Project carbon capture network near Cold Lake. Chief Kelsey Jacko argues that Ottawa breached Canadian law by failing to consult the community meaningfully regarding the pipeline designation and the underground carbon storage risks on their traditional territory.

  Read Original

• Water, toxic waste and opportunity: Indigenous leaders react to Carney's pipeline plan

  Source: CBC Politics
  Date: 2026-10-08 08:00:00.0
  Tags: [National, British Columbia, Alberta, Energy, Environment, Indigenous]

  Prime Minister Mark Carney's federal government designated the Pacific Link pipeline project—designed to transport one million barrels of oil daily from Bruderheim, Alberta, to Roberts Bank, British Columbia—as a project in the national interest, targeting construction to begin within a year and operations by 2032. Indigenous leaders, including Sumas First Nation Chief Dalton Silver, Treaty 8 Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi, and Fort McKay First Nation Chief Raymond Powder, have raised critical concerns regarding tight consultation timelines, potential environmental threats to water, fish, and wildlife, unresolved oilsands tailings management, and equitable community equity participation offering at least 10 per cent ownership.

  Read Original

• Indigenous, local leaders optimistic about new pipeline despite “host of issues” Carney says Federal government is yet to address

  Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
  Date: 2026-10-05 16:03:04.0
  Tags: [National, Alberta, British Columbia, Energy, Infrastructure, Environment, Indigenous]

  Prime Minister Mark Carney, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, and Pembina Pipeline Corp. CEO Scott Burrows announced that the Pacific Link Pipeline (formerly West Coast Oil Pipeline) has been officially listed as a project of national interest under the Building Canada Act. The project aims to export an additional one million barrels of Albertan oil per day to Asian markets, generate over $20 billion annually in GDP, create 140,000 jobs, and provide a 10 per cent ownership stake to Indigenous communities in British Columbia and Alberta through an accelerated single federal regulatory review process. However, the initiative faces ongoing concerns from local Indigenous groups—including Fort McKay First Nation, Mikisew Cree First Nation, and Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation—regarding unresolved legacy issues, carbon capture and storage technologies like the Pathways Project, mine water release, and effluents regulations tied to a trilateral memorandum of understanding aiming to double regional oil production to eight million barrels per day within a decade.

  Read Original

• Separatist, environment, and some First Nation groups speak out against new Alberta-B.C. pipeline

  Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
  Date: 2026-10-02 20:03:56.0
  Tags: [National, Alberta, British Columbia, Infrastructure, Energy, Environment, Indigenous]

  Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced that the Pacific Link pipeline, proposed by Pembina Pipeline Corporation, has been designated a project of national interest, allowing it to be fast-tracked through Ottawa's major projects office with construction potentially starting in September. The pipeline faces strong opposition from Alberta separatists like Let Alberta Decide over public financing and timing, B.C. and Alberta First Nations including Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation and the Union of B.C. Indigenous Chiefs over lack of consultation and environmental impacts, and environmental groups like the Pembina Institute and Ecojustice over increased greenhouse gas emissions and risks to the Salish Sea.

  Read Original

• Proposed dam near Iqaluit could have 'adverse impacts,' QIA admits in board filing

  Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
  Date: 2026-09-28 20:27:44.0
  Tags: [National, Energy, Infrastructure, Environment, Indigenous]

  The Qikiqtani Inuit Association and its subsidiary, the Nunavut Nukkiksautiit Corporation, have acknowledged in a regulatory filing to the Nunavut Impact Review Board that the proposed $500 million Iqaluit hydroelectric project could cause significant adverse impacts on the environment, wildlife, and Inuit livelihoods. The project, planned along the Kuugaluk River approximately 60 kilometres northeast of Iqaluit, would entail constructing a dam and powerhouse capable of generating 15 megawatts of electricity for 100 years. According to the project proposal, the development would flood 73 square kilometres of land, raising ongoing concerns from regional leaders and community members in Pangnirtung regarding impacts on fish, caribou, traditional harvesting, and travel safety.

  Read Original

• Wind turbine going up a ‘big moment’ in Sanikiluaq, Nunavut

  Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
  Date: 2026-09-28 17:11:14.0
  Tags: [National, Energy, Infrastructure, Environment, Climate, Indigenous]

  The Inuit-owned clean energy developer Nunavut Nukkiksautiit Corporation (NNC) has installed a 1-megawatt wind turbine and 1-megawatt battery storage system as part of the $30 million Anuriqjuak Nukkiksautiit Project in Sanikiluaq, Nunavut. The project is expected to displace at least 50 per cent—or approximately 600,000 litres—of the community's diesel usage annually and will sell power to the Qulliq Energy Corporation (QEC) at about 27 cents per kilowatt-hour under an energy purchase agreement signed in 2023. Funding for the initiative includes $16.7 million from Natural Resources Canada, $7 million from the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, and a $6.7 million loan from the Canada Infrastructure Bank, with 20 per cent of project profits directed into a local community enhancement fund.

  Read Original

• First Nations Chief threatens legal action against province if tailings water is released

  Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
  Date: 2026-09-21 15:59:11.0
  Tags: [Alberta, Indigenous, Energy, Environment, Resources, Mining]

  Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam has threatened a 20-year legal battle against the Alberta government if provincial or federal regulators approve plans to treat and release oilsands mining wastewater from companies like Suncor Energy Inc. into the Athabasca watershed. The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and Mikisew Cree First Nation strongly oppose the "treat and release" approach for the 1.4 billion cubic meters of fluid tailings, citing severe local health concerns and threats to Treaty rights along the 1,230-kilometer river. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith stated that wastewater release is governed under federal jurisdiction and oilsands leases, while Environment Minister Grant Hunter maintains that treated mine water release is necessary to achieve site reclamation and return land to a self-sustaining boreal forest.

  Read Original

• An alternative to treat and release? Alberta to approve $4.6 million grant for tailings ponds water treatment research

  Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
  Date: 2026-09-17 18:10:50.0
  Tags: [Alberta, Energy, Environment, Mining, Technology, Indigenous]

  Emissions Reduction Alberta offered a conditional $4.6 million grant to Tũ Nipi Water Solutions—an Indigenous-owned venture formed by Fort McKay Oil Services and BioLargo Canada based in the Fort McKay First Nation—to fund research and development of water-treatment solutions for tailings ponds in the Athabasca oilsands region. The funding, expected to roll out in early 2027 for closed-lab testing, aims to develop alternatives to controversial treat-and-release wastewater proposals for handling the more than 1.4 billion cubic metres of fluid tailings currently stored in the province. The initiative aligns with recommendations from Alberta's Oil Sands Mine Water Steering Committee and incorporates traditional knowledge alongside advanced cleantech applications.

  Read Original

• Health study begins examining potential oilsands impacts on Fort Chipewyan

  Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
  Date: 2026-09-10 12:00:00.0
  Tags: [National, Alberta, Indigenous, Healthcare, Environment, Energy]

  A 10-year, $12-million federally funded health study named Project Monument Hill has officially begun to examine potential links between oilsands developments and cancer rates among residents in the northern Alberta Indigenous community of Fort Chipewyan. Overseen by the Métis Nation, the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, and the Mikisew Cree First Nation—with the federal government playing an observer role—third-party researchers will analyze current and historical health data, monitor environmental conditions, and evaluate traditional land use. The study follows decades of community concern regarding industrial projects upstream along the Athabasca River, such as Imperial Oil’s Kearl mine and Suncor Energy’s Fort Hills mine.

  Read Original

• ‘Environmental racism’: Fort Chipewyan residents protest proposed treat-and-release plan for tailings water

  Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
  Date: 2026-09-09 12:00:00.0
  Tags: [Alberta, National, Environment, Energy, Mining, Indigenous]

  Residents of Fort Chipewyan, Alberta—including members of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Mikisew Cree First Nation, and Fort Chipewyan Métis community—protested a proposed treat-and-release plan by Suncor Energy to discharge treated oilsands tailings water into the Athabasca River. Suncor aims to begin operating its water treatment plant and releasing treated tailings by 2030, a proposal supported by recommendations from the Alberta oilsands mine water steering committee to manage over 380 million cubic metres of mine water and 1.5 billion cubic metres of fluid tailings. Federal officials from the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Nature noted that no federal effluent regulation is currently in place for oilsands mines, meaning such operations remain subject to the general prohibition against releasing deleterious substances under Section 36(3) of the Fisheries Act.

  Read Original

• Yukon Energy settles on 2 sites for new power plants in Whitehorse area

  Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
  Date: 2026-09-04 20:56:58.0
  Tags: [National, Energy, Infrastructure, Environment, Indigenous]

  Yukon Energy Corp. has selected two sites for new thermal power plants designed to burn diesel or liquefied natural gas to address power deficits and avoid rolling blackouts in Whitehorse. The proposed $100 million-plus project includes a 90-megawatt facility at Deep Creek on Ta’an Kwäch’än Council traditional territory and a 60-megawatt facility on the Copper Haul Road within city limits. Yukon Energy CEO Joe MacGillivray stated that the company will submit proposals to the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB) in the coming months, with construction targeted to begin in spring 2028.

  Read Original